Does Black Tea Cause Hair Loss? Nobody Talks About This!

Each time I took a shower, I was shocked by how much hair I was losing. Sometimes I thought losing this much hair might leave me bald someday, and I thought of finding a solution for hair loss by myself. While searching for an answer, I have found that I can use black tea for hair loss. 

Black tea does not cause hair loss. Instead, it helps to combat hair loss. Natural compounds in the black tea help block the production of a Dihydrotestosterone hormone (DHT) hormone that causes hair loss. Black tea can protect your hair follicles that grow hair and may stimulate hair growth. 

Many people use black tea as a hair rinse to get black tea benefits for their hair. Besides reducing hair loss and promoting hair growth, black tea can also make your hair shine and enhance hair color. 

If you are drinking black tea to get its benefits for hair, it is better to limit your daily tea drinks to 2 -3 cups on the safe side.

What causes hair loss?

We lose hair every day. Every one of us loses about 50 to 100 hair strands each day.

This hair loss is not noticeable as we grow new hair strands at the same time. Also, both men and women lose their hair as they grow older.

One of the main reasons for this is the hormone DHT. DHT has mostly affected men than women, which is the most common reason for male pattern balding. 

Also, DHT is an androgen which is a sex hormone and it has derived from testosterone which is present in both men and women.

As you might know, men have more testosterone compared to women. Ten percent of testosterone in our body converts into DHT by an enzyme called 5-alpha reductase (5-AR) ^[1]Page ST, Lin DW, Mostaghel EA, et al. Dihydrotestosterone administration does not increase intraprostatic androgen concentrations or alter prostate androgen action in healthy men: a randomized-controlled trial. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2011;96(2):430-437. doi:10.1210/jc.2010-1865.

If we can block this enzyme, then we can reduce DHT production and minimize hair loss. 

How black tea reduce hair loss? 

Black tea has a compound called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) that blocks 5-AR and reduces DHT production. Reducing DHT will reduce the hair loss related to DHT. 

In one study, black tea protected hair follicles that grew our hair and stimulated hair growth ^[2]Shin S, Kim K, Lee MJ, et al. Epigallocatechin Gallate-Mediated Alteration of the MicroRNA Expression Profile in 5α-Dihydrotestosterone-Treated Human Dermal Papilla Cells. Ann Dermatol. 2016;28(3):327-334. doi:10.5021/ad.2016.28.3.327. 

Is black tea safe for hair?

There are no adverse effects reported for using black tea for hair, but black tea will make your hair dry if you are not careful when doing a tea rinse. To avoid feeling dry hair, always condition after doing a tea rinse to restore the moisture that might have lost. 

Related Article: Black Tea for Skin – Feel Benefits and Improve Your Beauty

What is the best way to use black tea for hair loss?

We can use black tea in many ways. We can drink black tea, take black tea supplements, or apply black tea on our hair as a rinse. However, there is a lack of evidence for the best way to use black tea for hair loss.

According to many people who got the best results from black tea, the most effective way of using black tea for hair loss is as a rinse. Also, it is one of the cost-effective ways to reduce hair fall. 

However, in my opinion, drinking black tea will also give you the same benefits as the black tea rinse because EGCG will be directly available in your blood to block DHT after drinking black tea.

The amount of black tea you need to drink to get this effect is still unknown. 

What does black tea rinse do for hair?

Many people report that after doing a black tea rinse, they have reduced the hair fall. After doing the black tea rinse several times, you might also see the results.

Other than that, a black tea rinse will darken, strengthen and add shine to your hair. It will also help you to grow hair by protecting the hair follicles. 

How to do a black tea rinse? 

Following are the things you will need to do a black tea rinse;

• Black tea bags- 3 to 5
• Boiling water- 2 cups
• Shampoo or a cleansing conditioner
• Conditioner (optional)

Follow the below steps to brew the tea and do your tea rinse;

1. First, add three to five tea bags to boiling two cups of water. Then let it steep for long as possible until the brewed black tea is cooled enough to be used on hair.
2. Then, shampoo and condition your hair. You can also use a cleansing conditioner to wash the hair. 
3. When the tea is cooled, fill a spray bottle or an applicator bottle for even distribution throughout the hair.
4. Separate your wet hair into sections and apply the tea rinse, ensuring that you have covered all your hair strands. You can thoroughly massage the tea rinse onto your scalp for the best results.
5. Then cover your hair with a shower cap and leave the hair with the tea rinse for about 30 minutes. 
6. Rinse your hair with cool water. P.S. You do not need to shampoo the hair after the tea rinse. Rinsing your hair with cool water will be enough. 
7. Condition the hair as usual. 

How often should you do a black tea rinse?

Doing a tea rinse more frequently might not be a good idea because of the same reason mentioned above. Caffeine in black tea can dry out your hair. So, it is better to do a black tea rinse for hair loss once every two weeks.

Does rinsing your hair with black tea make it darker?

According to some sources, black tea has the highest amount of tannins. Tannins are compounds found in black tea that gives black tea its unique color and astringent and bitter flavor.

EGCG that I mentioned before, is also a tannin found in tea. Some sources say that tannins in tea can darken your hair. So, doing a black tea rinse, as mentioned above, might help you to darken your hair. 

Besides black tea, you can also use organic coffee, black walnut, sage, and rosemary tea rinses to darken your hair.

Can I leave black tea rinse in my hair? 

Leaving black tea on hair for a long time without rinsing will also cause dryness in the hair. So I would recommend you to rinse it off after about 30-60 min of using it.

What are the other options for black tea?

• You do not have to use only black tea for the hair rinse. You can also use green tea for the rinse; green tea has more EGCG than black tea. So, green tea infusion might be more effective than black tea.
• Coconut oil might also block DHT production and reduce hair fall in some studies. Reducing DHT production might be due to medium-chain triglycerides in coconut. But more studies are needed to confirm the findings.
• Onions might also reduce hair loss by blocking DHT by a compound called quercetin in onions. However, no studies have shown the effect of eating onions on hair loss up to now.
• Turmeric, the common condiment that we use in cooking, might also reduce DHT levels by the compound curcumin in turmeric.

There are also other natural remedies to cover your black hair other than black tea. Henna is one of them, and it comes from the Lawsonia inermis tree. Henna comes in powder form, and you can use it once per week or once per month.

Conclusion

If you are someone like me who freaks out in the shower about how many hair strands are lost every time, black tea will be a savior because it can block out a hormone called DHT, which is one of the main reasons for our hair loss, mostly in men but also in women. You can do a black tea rinse at home very quickly. Black tea will not only reduce hair shedding, but it will grow, strengthen and shine your hair.  

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